Regional daily editor moves to new director role

A long-serving regional daily editor has moved to a new role as content director for a group of West Country titles, it was announced today.

Ian Mean, editor of Gloucester daily The Citizen since 2005, is to move to a wide-ranging role overseeing content gathering, business community relationships and editorial strategy across Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset and Bristol.

The move comes ahead of the sale of parent company Northcliffe Media to the newly-formed Local World consortium, which is due to be completed by 1 January.

A Northcliffe spokeswoman said a further announcement about Ian’s existing responsibilities in Gloucestershire would be made in the New Year.

The appointment comes as part of a shake-up which sees a new managing director appointed for sister Northcliffe dailies the Bristol Post and Western Daily Press.

Sarah Pullen is taking on the top job at the publisher’s Bristol News and Media subsidiary in addition to her existing duties as MD for the company’s Gloucestershire, Somerset and Dorset titles.

She replaces Alan Renwick who has moved to become part of the team leading the transformation of Northcliffe and fellow publisher Iliffe News and Media following their sale to Local World.

Said Sarah: “I’m absolutely delighted to be appointed managing director of Bristol. There are lots of opportunities for the businesses to work together to achieve more success and I’m looking forward to working with both the team and the business community.”

Sarah joined Northcliffe Media 19 years ago as an advertising field sales representative in Plymouth, becoming advertisement director there in 2002.

She moved to the Bath Chronicle as commercial director in 2006 and helped lead its transformation from a daily to a weekly title before being promoted to managing director for Somerset and Dorset in 2007 and adding Gloucestershire Media to her responsibilities in 2009.

In her new role she will be assisted by Paul Wiltshire, who becomes commercial director for Gloucestershire and Linn Hughes who takes on the same role in Somerset, as well as by Ian.

Rich Mead, Northcliffe Media executive director said: “Sarah has amazing commercial experience and great enthusiasm. Bristol is a fantastic city and there is significant opportunity for us to develop the centre.”

And so it came to pass….the Bristol business, once an independent, successful plc which was home to such talented names as Goode, Lowe, Beales and, before them, Eric Price, just became a sub-branch of the Gloucestershire operation. I thought I’d see it all in terms of bewildering Northcliffe management moves, but in their last death throes before the land of the have new ‘World’ the latest mob surpass all that has gone before them….

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